Early Outcomes of Unilateral Biportal Endoscopic Decompression for Adjacent Segment Disease After Lumbar Fusion.

Purpose: To study the early curative effect of unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE) in the treatment of adjacent segment disease after lumbar interbody fusion. Methods: A retrospective analysis of clinical data from 58 patients diagnosed with adjacent segment disease subsequent to lumbar fusion surgery who were treated using the UBE technique between June 2019 and June 2024 at our institution was conducted. The patients' operation time, intraoperative bleeding, postoperative hospitalization time, and the occurrence of complications were recorded. The visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, and the Oswestry Dysfunction Index (ODI) for lumbar function were utilised before and after surgery, and the MacNab criteria were employed to evaluate the patient's outcome at six months after surgery. Results: The operation time was between 55 and 189 minutes, mean 102.64 minutes, the postoperative drainage flow was between 10 and 110 mL mean 47.81 mL, and the length of hospital stay between 5 and 14 days, mean 9.41 days. VAS scores of pain decreased over time and the ODI index was consistently lower than preoperative at all stages of the postoperative period. JOA scores increased gradually at all postoperative times. All indexes differed statistically at all times (P<0.05). Surgical efficacy was excellent in 93.1% of cases at 6 months. Conclusion: The UBE technique is an alternative surgical procedure for the treatment of adjacent segment disease after lumbar fusion, under strict control of the indications.